Ed Kubosiak | ed.kubosiak@masslive.com

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I am the Editor-in-Chief of MassLive.com, the No. 1 news & information site in Western Massachusetts, and a lifelong resident of area. Please contact me with any questions you may have about the site and thanks for reading!

I haven't eaten at Wolfie's in a while but they used to have terrific burgers ... it was a regular stop back when my girlfriend (and now wife) was living in Whately and South Deerfield.

Keep in mind the Final 4 were determined by reader votes, the judges did not join the competition until the Final 4 was decided. That said the Final 4 is a strong group, each of the establishments has a loyal following.

If he doesn't make that play the Patriots are sitting home ... obviously a team effort but without that moment in time New England's season is over. Pretty cool story about persistence paying off. It will be interesting to see how this rag-tag secondary holds up in the Super Bowl, clearly the Patriots weakest link.

I only got to see Newton play once this year but the stats are incredible and the fact that he was doing it on a bad team is even more impressive.

As for Eli I think he is definitely in the elite category at this point in his career. He has eliminated the careless mistakes/interceptions that used to plague him. He's mobile, showed again in the win over San Francisco that he'll stand in against pressure and make the throws he has to make, and I think his calm demeanor helps his teammates.

I'm impressed, and he and Giants will be a handful for the Patriots in the Super Bowl.

I'd go with Aviles given the current choices, he may be able to hit about as well as the Sox could have expected Scutaro to play. If it's a trade of Scutaro for Oswalt, in essence, I'm in favor.

That said what is going on with the Sox nickle and diming everything? First they couldn't afford 1 year/$10 million for a much-needed arm in Hiroki Kuroda who ends up in New York, now they have to move salary to potentially sign Oswalt.

Agreed, the Ravens were the most difficult matchup in the AFC for the Patriots when the playoffs began and they belong in this game.

If New England's offensive line can keep Brady upright and the Patriots either win the turnover battle or stay even I think they win. Baltimore is going to need big plays (turnovers, points) from its defense to win this one.

I'm hoping we see more of the swarming, gang-tackling defense the Patriots showed on Saturday, they'll need multiple guys coming at Rice throughout the game.

He already has three Super Bowl rings and could easily have five. That said Saturday is a good time to start turning around his playoff fortunes, great ones never want to go out on the downhill slide. At this point I keep reminding myself to enjoy the pleasures of watching a Hall of Fame quarterback play for your team, it may be a once in lifetime experience.

Nobody is comparing Tebow to Montana, but he did have a solid game against a traditionally tough Pittsburgh defense. It will be interesting to see if the Patriots offense can control the game as everyone expects. Denver, at least on paper, has a chance to create pressure on Brady and disrupt his timing, which is the only way teams have been able to defeat the Patriots in the past.

Keep in mind New England has lost to Mark Sanchez and Joe Flacco in the playoffs the past two years, not exactly feared quarterbacks. Here's hoping we don't see a three-peat.

Watch it again ... yes, Marchand gets Salo under his butt and then flips him but the fact that he didn't get Salo's knees is more luck than anything else. It's a clear clip, he had plenty of time to simply stand up and take a shoulder to shoulder check (as he did 16 seconds earlier, which the video shows).

I love how Marchand can be a pest but there is a fine line between pest and dirty player. There's nothing wrong with pushing the limits but he should admit when he's wrong and take the punishment. Pointing out other hits that should have received a penalty/suspension doesn't justify the next dirty hit.

@scotch1 I wish I was as confident in the New England secondary as you are. Denver losing Eric Decker is going to hurt Tebow & co., but nothing the Patriots secondary has done this year inspires confidence.

Thomas is the type of receiver who has overpowered McCourty this season.

On the offensive side if the Patriots offensive line can protect Brady I don't see how the Broncos will be able to hang with the Pats. A quick lead by New England would really hurt Denver.

Those of us who work in downtown Springfield every day are really going to miss both Sitar and the Student Prince deli.

It is frustrating that there aren't better lunch options available and at the same time sobering that the places that are here can't survive and carve out a profitable business.

To me this isn't a story about crime, it's a story about a poor economy and not enough development along Main Street in Springfield. There are not enough consumers downtown on a daily basis (there are virtually no shops outside of the restaurants to draw in people) ... here's hoping plans for the Paramount building and other downtown projects begin to change that.

Patriots have more than luck on their side but you are right, Brady will need to play better, the team can't afford to fall behind big early in the playoffs like it has against lesser teams at the end of the regular season and Belichick/O'Brien will need a great game plan.

Good point, Brady has lost his last 3 playoff games and didn't play well against the Giants in the Super Bowl (offensive line play had a great deal to do with that) or in the loss to the Ravens. He threw the big pick early in the playoff game against the Jets last year and combined with the Crumpler drop in the end zone a potential early 14-0 Patriots edge was just 3-0.

Of course all that said Brady is by far the best qb in the afc playoff field. As a fan of Brady I hope he has another Super Bowl in him, he's been a class act for so many years and provided a ton of great memories for Patriots fans.

Tough crowd today ... it's hard to argue with 'Tek being among the best Red Sox catchers ever, only Fisk was better.

That said I agree it's time for 'Tek to retire and give the younger guys a shot. With the Sox bringing Big Papi back there doesn't seem to be room for Lavarnway which would be a shame, he showed flashes in September and his bat appears to be major league ready.